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N1 Angel, Barnsbury, Canonbury, Clerkenwell, De Beauvoir Town, Hoxton, Islington, Pentonville, Shoreditch



'The Waterhouse' by Wenceslaus Hollar

Flowing waters into Islington


Wenceslaus Hollar's 1665 depiction of 'The Waterhouse' shows how water was supplied to Islington in the mid-17th century. The New River and reservoir were constructed in 1609-13 to carry fresh water supplied from the springs of the River Lea near Ware in Hertfordshire to London.

What was the Waterhouse?

The Waterhouse was built in 1614. It was a curious brick tower with a steep pyramid-shaped roof. Water from the New River passed through the cistern and was distributed to elm pipes which led down to the city streets. The tower also housed the engineer who looked after the waterhouse machinery. The building existed until 1913 when the Metropolitan Water Board took over the New River Company and rebuilt the site.

The New River

The New River's course through Islington originally ran from Eel Pie House in Stoke Newington, south through Canonbury and into Clerkenwell. It finished at the New River Head at Finsbury.


Museum number 29.54/2

Related objects


 


Map of N1

Adjacent postcodes


Model ship
E1
'An Historic Guide to Shoreditch' by Adam Dant. By permission of the artist.
E2
'London Fields East - the Ghetto' by James Mackinnon and Tom Hunter. By permission of the artists.
E8
Prison doors from Newgate Prison
EC1
Man's suit
N16
View of Highbury Place and Highbury Fields by C.H. Matthews
N5
Photograph of Olive Wharry
N7
'Mornington Crescent' by Spencer Frederick Gore
NW1
Poster advertising 'London's Tramways'
WC1
'Barbican Site' by Harold Hussey. By permission of the artist's estate.
EC2


  Stories from N1  
 
A Life Goes in the Skip
by John Rogers, 05/12/2005


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